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Poems by Walt Whitman

by Walt Whitman

73 of 107 · Contents · Download EPUB

O Captain! My Captain! (For the Death of Lincoln.)

1.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done!
The ship has weathered every wrack, the prize we sought is won.
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring.
          But, O heart! heart! heart!
          Leave you not the little spot
          Where on the deck my Captain lies,
          Fallen cold and dead.

2.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells! Rise up! for you the flag is flung, for you the bugle trills: For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths; for you the shores a-crowding: For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning.

O Captain! dear father!
          This arm I push beneath you.
          It is some dream that on the deck
          You’ve fallen cold and dead!

3.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still:
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will.
But the ship, the ship is anchored safe, its voyage closed and done:
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won!
          Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!
          But I, with silent tread,
          Walk the spot my Captain lies,
          Fallen cold and dead.

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